Bandai’s Re/100 Guncannon Detector: And They Was Right

When the Re/100 Guncannon Detector was announced by Bandai, I took a look at some of the initial marketing images and thought “that looks pretty goofy”. As the date of release drew closer, and then it was finally released, I found I kept looking at it, with the same thought in mind.

Eventually, for some odd reason, I decided to give it a build.

The impetus, at least in part, was how much I’d enjoyed my Gerbera GP04 Gunpla, also part of the Re/100 line. I liked the simpler construction and lower parts count that the line offered, yet still in the same scale as the somewhat more complicated Master Grade line. (And by complicated I mean more fiddly parts… not difficult.)

Yet part of my motivation was the underdog effect. This mobile suit does look quite goofy, in my mind at least. And it’s appearance in the Gundam Unicorn anime was fairly brief and undramatic. It served mainly as a punching bag for opposing forces to slice through in the few inglorious seconds of screen time it did have.

And I’ve always had a soft spot for the underdog.

Having finally decided that it was worth a build, I picked up the kit at my favorite hobby shop in the whole world, Hayes Hobby House in Fayetteville, NC, USA.

And it was very happy to see me!

The kit is what you’d expect in a new release from Bandai- exceptional all around. The inner frame was cast in a medium grayish/purple color, while the outer frame was in two colors- dark blue, and an even darker blue.

I decided I didn’t like the level of contrast the two blues offered, thus a color swap was decided upon. For the inner frame, I started with a primer coat of Badger’s Stynylrez Black, and then topped that off with a coat of Tamiya’s XF-63 German Gray. A bit of drybrushing was added with Vallejo Model Color Sky Gray (70.989), and a wash of Citadel’s Nuln Oil.

The exterior armor and other bits were given a coat of the same primer. The lighter of the blue parts was given a coat of Ammo of Mig French Blue (A.Mig-062), while the darker blue was treated to Vallejo Mecha Color Titan Blue (69.013). The splash of red in the mobile suit’s chest is Vallejo Mecha Color Dark Red (69.011). As a side note- I highly recommend the Vallejo Mecha Color line. It’s a wonderful paint to work with.

With all the parts painted, the various sections of the kit were assembled. A loose fitting of the kit shows it looks the part, certainly, of the mobile suit as shown in the anime. (Aside from my departure from canon colors, of course.) And it also underscored that yes, this thing does look a bit goofy. Tiny little head, big giant feet, wide child bearing hips, big thighs, Popeye arms… and that… protuberance at the groin that is at best mildly obscene, but certainly comical and worthy of a great many jokes. (Thus the blog title… Spot the media reference? 😉 )

Odd looks aside, this Gunpla assembles very nicely, and apart from some unfortunate seams on the forearms, appears to have no vices. (I still have not decided if I plan to make those “panel lines”, or cover them up somehow. )

The tedious part of any Gunpla build is the initial painting- all those pterodactyl clips! But with that behind me, I can now cast an eye towards the real fun- weathering the model! I think I may go a bit heavy on this one, as it seems to be prone to no small amount of abuse anyway, judging from it’s screen appearance.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode when we’ll hear our hero say “honey, this one is eating my popcorn!”